"If You’ve Got Nothing to Hide, You’ve Got Nothing to Fear"

Here's a common refrain in privacy discussions: “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve gotnothing to fear.” There's alsoGoogle’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt famously saying: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Brooke speaks with George Washington University law professor Daniel Solove who says those types of arguments misunderstand privacy entirely.

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Dennis Mick
from Texas

Today's show repeatedly missed a key point.

Surveillance stifles dissent. Measures instituted initially or ostensibly for prosecuting crime or fighting terrorism can and often are easily turned on anyone who legitimately opposes another political faction or government.

Dissent is vital to a sustained democracy because, without opposition, governments will surely overreach and some measure of freedom will be lost. The right to organized dissent or political opposition is seriously endangered by lax protections from covert surveillance.

Even those of us with nothing to hide should be very concerned about how weakened privacy protections can and will be used politically.